Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 393 (Patreon)

Chapter 393: The Road of Bones

The last meal before heading towards death.

Many people thought this, but they were all wrong.

After finishing a sumptuous meal, they were tied to sand sleds and taken by a large group of sand thieves out of Red Rock Canyon, heading towards an unknown place.

It was indeed a departure, but not the kind they had imagined.

The sand thieves' convoy was vast, impossible to count the number of people, giving the impression that the entire nest was coming out.

Milia lay on the sand sled, feeling a sense of relief in her heart. Although the future was uncertain, as long as she was out of the dungeon, there was always a chance to escape.

At the front of the convoy, Gerrot rode gallantly, his deep gaze looking out at the endless horizon.

Recently, a team of nearly four hundred subordinates had targeted a prey but was almost completely wiped out by a Nen user who could control quicksand, with only twenty or so returning.

When Gerrot first heard the squad leader mention Nen abilities, he immediately recalled a time much earlier when he led an attack on the royal team of the Golo Kingdom and a black-haired boy, also a Nen user, appeared out of nowhere and killed hundreds of his men in seconds.

However, the squad leader's further description made Gerrot dismiss his guess. This time, the tricky target was a middle-aged man, not the same as that boy.

The appearance of these two Nen users had reduced Gerrot's forces by nearly five hundred, which was not a small number, hinting at an ominous sign.

Compared to the middle-aged man who could control quicksand, Gerrot found the black-haired boy more troublesome. He didn't want to go to the trouble of seeking revenge on either of them, especially with a major plan in preparation.

According to the squad leader's intelligence, the middle-aged man's team was not part of the trade caravans traveling among the three major oasis nations but was heading straight into the depths of the desert.

People who ventured there were either seeking various desert creatures or heading to... the Forbidden Zone!

This meant their target was likely the Forbidden Zone, though it could also be for other purposes, like some researchers with a death wish wanting to observe the predatory habits of desert creatures.

If he remembered correctly, among the people who died in the dungeon, there were supposedly some well-educated outsiders who came to the desert. Maybe some companions of theirs still remained, but they weren't worth caring about.

"If we encounter them..."

Gerrot sneered, glancing back at his vast convoy. With his three thousand men, he could overwhelm either the black-haired boy or the middle-aged man with sheer numbers.

His goal was the Forbidden Zone, and he carried a map in his pocket, as exquisite as Ali's.

Gerrot was an ambitious man who didn't want to spend his life in the desert. He wanted to obtain the countless treasures in the Forbidden Zone and then leave the desert for the outside world.

Perhaps it was fate that, after many years, two sizable teams simultaneously charged towards the Forbidden Zone, not like the small skirmishes of other years.

Luo had arrived at the world's largest and harshest Kendia Desert and heard about the Forbidden Zone. This sparked his desire to see it, leading him to meet William, join the Eagle Group, and after nearly twenty days of trekking, they were now close to the Forbidden Zone.

The team camped in a small rocky area before the sun disappeared.

Before entering the rocky area, Ali said to Luo, "We'll depart in the morning and reach the outskirts of the Forbidden Zone by noon."

This indicated that the rocky area was only a few hours away from the Forbidden Zone.

Entering the rocky area, Luo climbed the highest rock and, in the last rays of the setting sun, vaguely saw a thin black line stretching across the horizon.

His intuition told him that was the location of the Forbidden Zone.

He only managed to look for a few minutes before the sun sank below the horizon, and the remaining light disappeared, merging the thin black line into the night.

The next day, the team was ready to depart, everyone in high spirits. They knew the Forbidden Zone was close. Traversing the dangerous desert to get here wasn't difficult for them; the challenge was breaking through the sandstorm surrounding the Forbidden Zone!

Before leaving the rocky area, the Eagle Group extensively scavenged for insects as emergency food supplies.

Setting off again, four hours later, Luo finally saw the sandstorm encircling the Forbidden Zone, never weakening throughout the year.

Thick black clouds rapidly churned in the sky, like a huge piece of black cotton tossed into a high-speed washing machine, wildly stirred by powerful winds but never dispersing.

Below the black clouds, countless grains of sand were whipped into swirling curtains by the fierce winds, creating an oppressive feeling that took one's breath away.

The Eagle Group stood still, staring at the spectacle in silence, with only the sound of the wind from the Forbidden Zone filling their ears.

The armored bulls lay flat on the ground, heads buried in the sand, their sturdy bodies trembling, fully displaying their natural fear.

No one wanted to ponder why the sky and sandstorm had persisted for centuries, except for the brief, pitifully short intervals every hundred years. This spectacle had been running for millennia.

What was the root cause? No one cared.

Those who came here were all seeking the treasures hidden in the calm valley at the center of the sandstorm.

"Brothers, are you ready?"

Ali suddenly shouted, raising his arm, holding a small syringe, and staring at the distant sandstorm.

"Of course!"

Shush, shush, shush!

All the members of the Eagle Group raised their arms, taking out the syringes Ali had distributed the previous night. These were the key weapons for breaking through the sandstorm!

The syringes contained a toxin mixed by Geru, which would put the armored bulls into a state of excitement, driving them to charge forward, no matter the danger ahead.

With these syringes and the extensive use of ropes, the armored bulls could pull them through the sandstorm. Although the sandstorm was exceptionally fierce, its coverage area wasn't large.

Luo stared at the sandstorm, his eyes gleaming. If it was just this level of sandstorm, he had the confidence to get through even without the armored bulls.

Ali glanced around at everyone in the group, feeling a surge of pride. If they came out of the empire alive and brought out countless treasures, his name would resound throughout the desert.

"Inject, charge!"

Everyone immediately injected the toxin into the necks of the armored bulls. The powerful beasts suddenly roared, their eyes turning blood-red as they charged madly into the sandstorm.

The group rushed into the sandstorm and disappeared within moments.

Everyone clung tightly to the armored bulls, not daring to look up at the sandstorm for fear of blinding themselves with sand. Only Luo watched the scene with a strange gaze.

It was his first time calmly entering a sandstorm, wondering what kind of visual experience it was.

It felt like being ten thousand meters underwater, surrounded by darkness, feet on the ground, each step kicking up clouds of dust, with light barely reaching a meter or two ahead.

The armored bulls went full speed, exceeding the speed of a galloping horse, nearly breaking seventy kilometers per hour. In less than five minutes, they passed through the sandstorm and arrived at a valley reaching into the black clouds, a calm eye in the storm.

Ali, barely containing his excitement, immediately checked for any stragglers.

Luo injected an antidote into the excited armored bulls, calming them, then jumped off and headed towards the valley with Buhara.

Their luck was good, directly reaching one of the four passages.

Seeing Luo and Buhara's movement, William also jumped off the armored bull and quickly followed them.

It was said that there were four passages in the valley. Luo stood outside one, its width about three times that of the Zoldyck family's stone gate—not wide, but not as narrow as expected.

The depths of the passage were pitch black, the visible ground covered with various bones, a true Road of Bones.

At the same time, outside the sandstorm, the large convoy led by Gerrot also arrived.

Of the five hundred cannon fodder brought along, two hundred didn't make it, dying on the way. But with three hundred left, Gerrot considered it an acceptable result.

The biggest obstacle to entering the Forbidden Zone wasn't crossing the desert to get here, nor passing through the perennial sandstorm, but traversing the Road of Bones and the trap-laden imperial minefield!

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